(CNN) - His name causes shivers in many Democratic circles, but Ralph Nader said Thursday his campaign history won't prevent him from another foray into national politics.

Nader, a persona non grata to many Democrats after he ran as a third-party candidate against Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000, explained on CNN why he was recruiting potential candidates to run against Pres. Barack Obama in a Democratic primary.FULL POST

(CNN) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry is the leader in national polls in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but two new surveys, released within 12 hours of each other, indicate that in the first in the nation primary state of New Hampshire Mitt Romney's still way ahead of the rest of the pack.

According to an American Research Group poll released Thursday morning, 30 percent of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters say they support Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts who's making his second bid for president, with Perry a distant second at 13 percent.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - A delayed or canceled recess for Congress loomed Thursday after the House defeated a temporary spending measure the night before that would fund the government for the first seven weeks of the fiscal year that begins October 1.

With a one-week congressional recess scheduled to begin Friday, House Republican leaders warned of a possible weekend session to continue work on the funding plan, known as a continuing resolution.

Washington (CNN) - Rep. Ron Paul is once again doing what the other presidential campaigns apparently are not doing: Spending lots of money to run commercials on broadcast and cable television.

The longtime Republican congressman from Texas is going up with a new sixty second ad that touts Paul's work supporting military veterans. Paul's campaign says the total ad buy is over a million dollars, and that the commercial will run nationally before Thursday night's presidential debate in Orlando, Florida, and then will run on broadcast and cable TV in New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina, the first four states to vote in the primary and caucus calendar. The campaign says the "message will shift in 10 days to new creative and continue for a total of four weeks."FULL POST

(CNN) - Hours before the second Republican presidential debate to be held in Florida in the past week and a half, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is slightly ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in the Sunshine state, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University survey released Thursday morning also indicates that President Barack Obama's approval rating is at an all time low in a state that will play a crucial role next year in both the GOP nomination battle and the general election.FULL POST

(CNN) - Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, predicted Thursday President Barack Obama would win the Jewish vote and her home state of Florida in the 2012 election.

The Florida congresswoman pushed back against the claim that Democrats lost the recent special election in New York's heavily Jewish 9th district because Jewish voters are disenchanted with the president's Middle East policy.FULL POST

(CNN) - Republican Rep. Darrell Issa endorsed Mitt Romney for president Thursday, the candidate announced in a press release.

The six-term California congressman, who serves as a top critic of the Obama administration as chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Romney will put the economy "on the right track again."FULL POST

Washington (CNN) - A television ad released Thursday by a progressive health care advocacy group slammed the tea party movement and GOP presidential candidates, saying they support policies that could potentially discontinue Medicare.

The ad, sponsored by Protect Your Care, also chastised the candidates for standing by as a few audience members at the CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate cheered the idea of a man dying because he lacked health insurance.FULL POST